Japanese visitors hail nuclear-free ordinance By Venice Buhain The Olympian 23 Aug 06 http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060823/NEWS01/608230305/1006 OLYMPIA - An anti-nuclear group from Japan celebrated the first anniversary of Olympia's nuclear-free ordinance at the city's Tuesday council meeting, and group delegates hope the idea will spread to other cities in the nation. Four members of the Japan Peace Committee, a citizens' anti-nuclear proliferation group, addressed the council, encouraging the city to keep its ban against allowing anything related to nuclear weapons within city limits and avoiding business with companies involved in creating nuclear weapons. The ordinance, which originally passed 5-2, narrowly avoided being revoked in June. *Into other cities* Jun Chisaka, secretary general of the Japan Peace Committee, said the group's top priority is to encourage other cities to become nuclear-free zones. The 20 delegates were joined by a packed house of locals supporting the ordinance. We "would like to expand this movement and work together for this cause," Chisaka said through a translator. The group is discouraged by the increased presence of the U.S. military in Japan, he said. "The governments have agreed, but not at the level of people who live there, or at the city and prefecture level," he said through the translator. Councilman TJ Johnson, who proposed the ordinance last year, told the audience and council members that the group has been watching Olympia since fall and has closely followed the debate to repeal the ordinance. The ordinance came under scrutiny after several local agencies and cities balked at certifying that they were not involved in the manufacture of nuclear weapons. A tie vote in June preserved the ordinance: Mayor Mark Foutch and council members Jeff Kingsbury and Doug Mah voted to revoke it; Mayor Pro Tem Laura Ware and council members Joe Hyer and Johnson voted to preserve it. Councilwoman Karen Messmer abstained. The ordinance, which exempted the federal government, was amended to exempt local governments.